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Dave Webb
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In a heated meeting March 20 that ended at midnight and had to be relocated to the fire truck bays of the Milan Area Fire Department to accommodate an overflow crowd, the fire department's executive board voted to investigate how much money it would save by switching from a Category 1 fire department to Category 2.
The board voted to reclassify the department in January in hopes of reducing the number of 911 calls it's required to respond to in its service area and stave off a move to a full-time department advocated by Fire Chief Dave Webb at a cost increase of at least $400,000 a year. Huron Valley Ambulance would be dispatched instead and patients would be billed for the ambulance service.
The change affects the fire department's coverage area of Milan, London and York townships, and the city of Milan. The switch is to be made after training is completed by the police department's dispatchers, who would identify whether a call needed the fire department as a first responder or HVA. The dispatcher's decision, based on a clinically approved telephone triage process, would determine whether the situation is considered life-threatening.
The board voted to revisit the issue after member Anthony Eaddy, who represents London Township, suggested more information is needed. This came after audience members expressed their frustrations with the board and asked why the decision was made without more public discussion.
"We have to work together and if you're going to make decisions that affect these residents, they need to be informed," said Jannell Straits, a retired Milan firefighter in the audience.
Dale Berry, president and chief executive officer of HVA, attended the meeting to provide more information to the board. He emphasized that HVA was not taking a stand on the issue and that it was a community decision.
Berry said the difference between Category 1 and 2 is based on service, not clinical outcome.
"Nobody will die because you changed from a Category 1 to 2," he said. "It's really a service question -- what kind of service do you want to provide.
"I don't want to diminish what (Milan firefighters) do. We've had a team effort with your fire department for a long time. They're very good -- very helpful.
"I am not here to advocate either way."
Milan was a Category 2 department until upgrading its status in the 1990s. Other Category 2 departments in Washtenaw County include Manchester Township, Saline Area Fire Department, Scio Township, Pittsfield Township, city of Ann Arbor, city of Ypsilanti, Augusta Township and Salem Township.
Berry estimated that of the 700 or more calls the Milan Area Fire Department receives in a year, 200 are non-emergencies, 250 are canceled and 550 are transported to the hospital by HVA. Of the number of people taken by ambulance, he said 10 percent are critically ill.
"The number of patients that are medically unstable or critically ill isn't very high," he said. "The key point is getting people who need it the help."
Ultimately, Berry said, it comes down to what level of service the fire board wants to provide residents.
"You need to take the emotion out of this," he said. "When you go Category 2, the people who need them are going to have the fire department. It's a service question -- do you want people there holding their hand until we get there? That's what it comes down to. It's not a life or death question we're talking about."
In a letter to Milan City Administrator Dan Bishop, Berry said HVA's average response time in the city of Milan is 11 minutes, 10.5 minutes in York Township, 12 minutes in Milan Township and 14 minutes in London Township. Some audience members, including firefighters, expressed concern that HVA's response time was too long for some people to have to wait, particularly older residents, even if their emergency is not considered life threatening.
"We're not going to take care of our senior citizens if we don't make these runs," said Tom Gotts, who has been with the Milan Area Fire Department for more than 50 years.
Berry said the fire department's runs will decrease by about 20 percent with the switch.
Members of the audience demanded to know what the cost savings would be to the department since the board's intention was to save money, yet no one on the board knew how much would be saved.
"You guys taking this (fire department) down from a (Category) 1 to 2 is a bunch of crap," said Charles Pratt, a Milan resident in the audience who said he's had to call 911 on several occasions and appreciated the fire department's quick response. "Yes, I am mad and mad as hell right now. You guys are messing with people's lives."
The board's chairman, Dave Wittkop, supervisor of Milan Township, told one audience member toward the end of the discussion to control herself, and then cut off public comment and pushed forward the board's business action items.
From the audience, Straits warned board members that they should rethink their decision to switch to a Category 2 department or their political careers could be at stake.
"I think it's a slap in the face what you're doing," she said.
Her mother, Shirley Straits, called out Wittkop for what both women and other audience members characterized as disrespect toward the public and fire chief.
"My 10-year-old granddaughter has more respect than you do," Shirley Straits told Wittkop, who faced some criticism for being slow to move the meeting to a larger area to accommodate the capacity crowd in the board's chambers.
Joe Chapin, a Milan City Council trustee, was also critical of Wittkop's demeanor.
"What I did see here tonight was some people had flippant attitudes," he said, adding that Wittkop was acting unprofessionally as a leader of a public board.
Also during the meeting, the fire chief was called out by the board several times after they asked for information that he couldn't provide for various reasons and the budget had to be reworked based on some incorrect figures that he provided.
Webb's interaction with the board appeared strained. In his report to the board, one of the first items on the agenda, he asked the board if he still had a job and got no response.
"Either I am the chief and I work with you folks or I am not the chief," he said.
Webb asked why he wasn't consulted prior to the board's decision to reclassify the department. He said he was shocked when the board voted to approve the switch without what he considered to be full knowledge of the difference between Category 1 and 2.
"All I am asking is I work with you folks and not be left out," he said.
Muckler called the board's deliberations an "organic process" and suggested Webb needed to speak up and express himself.
"There is an opportunity for you to pipe in and say, 'You know, I have some concerns about this. Could you hold off until I get some more information?' We're pretty friendly."
Later in the meeting, she expressed concerns over the fact Webb spoke to the press about the board's decision and shared his feelings on the issue with a reporter, rather than the fire board, and without the board's knowledge.
"You work for this board. You're supposed to communicate with us," she said. "That night (the board meeting in January), where were your comments? You need to be accountable for your words. You got everyone around town worked up."
A proposal to institute a new policy addressing how media inquires would be handled in the future was on the agenda but pulled because the chief left the meeting early and wasn't available to participate in the discussion.
Muckler put forth the proposal, which addresses public statements and appearance, dissemination of information, department reports and other department documents, and political activity concerning the fire department. She provided a copy of the Milan Police Department's Rules and Regulations as an example.
The board is expected to address the issue at a future meeting.
Editor Michelle Rogers can be reached at 429-7380 or mrogers@heritage.com.
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